Man under probe over murder of journalist in Jaffna

A man suspected of having murdered Sri Lankan journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan in Jaffna over 22 years ago, is under investigation, the Northamptonshire Telegraph has reported A Metropolitan Police spokesman reportedly confirmed that a man who was arrested on February 22, 2022 remains under investigation and that police enquiries are ongoing. The man was arrested on suspicion of offences under Section 51 of the International Criminal Court Act 2001.

At the time of the arrest, the Metropolitan Police said:

“There will still be people who may have information, particularly in relation to the murder of Mr Nimalarajan, and we would urge those people to come forward and help achieve justice for Mr Nimalarajan’s family.”

Nimalarajan, a senior journalist who contributed to the BBC Tamil and Sinhala services, the Tamil daily Virakesari and Sinhala weekly Ravaya, was murdered in his Jaffna home on October 19, 2000.

Nimalarajan was shot through the window of his study where he was working on an article. The suspects then threw a grenade into the home before fleeing the premises. Following his death, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) wrote that “local journalists suspect that Nimalarajan’s reporting on vote-rigging and intimidation in Jaffna during the recent parliamentary elections may have led to his murder.”

The government aligned paramilitary group the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) are suspected of carrying out the killing.In May 2021, the Sri Lankan Attorney General’s department ordered the release of the suspects involved in the murder case. At least two other suspects were thought to have been abroad.Over 22 years have passed since Nimalarajan’s murder but no one has been held accountable for the killing.